Door Hinge Types: Butt, Continuous, Pivot and Swing Clear

Posted by The Builders Supply on 10/7/2026 to Hardware Reference

This guide explains butt hinges, continuous hinges and pivot sets, plus swing clear, spring and electrified hinges, as Hager, Ives, Select and Rixson define them, and shows how to read our hinge product names.

Butt and surface hinges: full mortise, half mortise, full surface, half surface

Hager's Commercial Hinges catalog names four hinge types by how the leaves are mounted:

Full mortise - both leaves are mortised, one in the door and one in the frame.
Half mortise - one leaf is mortised in the door, the other is surface applied to the frame.
Full surface - both leaves are applied to the surface of the door and the frame.
Half surface - one leaf is mortised in the frame, the other is surface applied to the face of the door.

Size, weight, bearings and NRP

According to Hager, only full mortise hinges carry two dimensions: in 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 the first number is the height and the second is the width with the hinge open. A hinge wider than it is tall, such as 4-1/2 x 6, is a wide throw hinge.

Hager places hinges in three groups: heavy weight ball bearing, standard weight ball bearing and standard weight plain bearing. Its selector shows the standard weight BB1279 with two ball bearings (2BB) and the heavy weight BB1168 with four (4BB). In the Ives price book, 3PB1 is three knuckle, plain bearing, standard weight; 5BB1 is five knuckle, ball bearing, standard weight; 5BB1HW is five knuckle, ball bearing, heavy weight.

On Hager's NRP (non-removable pin) hinges, a set screw in the barrel seats in a groove in the pin and cannot be reached unless the door is opened. Hager says NRP, the safety stud and the reverse security stud are "intended as deterrents only".

Continuous hinges: geared (Roton, Select, Ives) or pin and barrel

Select's glossary defines a continuous hinge as one that runs the entire length of the door, and Select offers two constructions:

Geared - geared "teeth" that mesh together, without a pin. The specifications of Hager's Roton 780-224 and the Select SL24 give 6063-T6 aluminum.
Pin and barrel - Select: "a traditional type of hinge that rotates on a central pin usually made of stainless steel". Ives lists its 700 pin and barrel hinge in US32D, satin stainless steel; example: Ives 700 83 US32D HT TW8 SECHM.

Roton's standard lengths are 79, 83, 85, 95 and 119 inches for nominal door heights of 6'8", 7'0", 7'2", 8'0" and 10'0". Both the Roton price book and the Select SL24 spec sheet rule out pivot-type floor closers with a fixed pivot point.

Full mortise or concealed continuous hinge?

Select calls a continuous hinge concealed when its leaves are not visible with the door closed, as on the Select SL24 and Hager's Roton 780-224. Pemko says full mortise for the same result: its _FM_HD1 instructions say full mortise units are applied so as to conceal both leaves. Ives also calls its geared 112XY full mortise, and so does our product name for the Select SL24 below. For Pemko drawings, see our Pemko continuous hinge templates guide.

Pivots: center hung or offset

A pivot set hangs the door on a top and a bottom pivot. Rixson describes the two types:

Center hung - on the Rixson 370 the pivot point is centered in the thickness of the door; the set is non-handed, the bottom pivot mounts directly to the floor, and the door must have a radius on the pivot edge. Example: Rixson 370 LTP 619 (less top pivot, per its product page).
Offset hung - the Rixson 117 has a 3/4 inch offset, measured from the centerline of the pivot to the face of the door. It is handed, includes a 180 top pivot, its bottom pivot is mortised into the floor, and Rixson recommends a 119 intermediate pivot, sold separately. Example: Rixson 117 LH 626.

Swing clear hinges, including concealed swing clear

According to Hager, swing clear hinges are used when the passage area must be the full width of the opening: they are designed to swing the door completely clear of the opening when it is opened 95 degrees. Ives lists swing clear butt hinges (5BB1 SC), geared continuous hinges (041XY, 210XY) and a pin and barrel continuous hinge (711); our catalog includes the NGP HD4100A concealed swing-clear geared hinge.

Spring hinges

Hager lists its single acting spring hinges "for automatic closing of doors" and does not recommend spring hinges on doors over 7'0", in favor of hydraulic door closers. Example: Stanley 2060R single acting spring hinge.

Electrified hinges

Hager describes the electric hinge as a way to monitor the opening and transfer power from the frame into the door, for low voltage power transfer only (48 volts or under). Ives lists through-wire options TW4, TW8 and TW12 (4, 8 or 12 wires) and TW4M and TW8M (with monitor), with the Allegion Connect 8-pin connector (CON) as standard. Select lists continuous hinge preps such as EPT (electric power transfer cutout), ATW (accessible through-wire) and CTW (concealed through-wire). See also our Securitron EPT guide.

How to read our hinge product names

In these examples the name starts with the manufacturer and model; size or length, finish and options follow in varying order:

Ives 5BB1HW 4.5X4.5 652 NRP - five knuckle ball bearing, heavy weight, 4-1/2 x 4-1/2 inches, finish 652, non-removable pin.
Best FBB199 5 X 4.5 US32D NRP - 5 x 4-1/2 inch heavy weight full mortise hinge, non-removable pin, satin stainless steel.
Ives 5BB1 4.5X4.5 639 TW8M CON - standard weight ball bearing hinge, finish 639, 8 wire through-wire with monitor, Allegion Connect.
Hager 780-224 83 DBA - Roton's ordering format is series, profile, length, finish: series 780, concealed profile 224, 83 inches, DBA (dark bronze anodized).
Select SL24 CL HD600 83 ATW4 RH - clear anodized, Heavy Duty 600 (Select: high-frequency doors up to 600 lb.), 83 inches, accessible through-wire prep (our product page lists 4-22GA), right hand.
Ives 112XY 119IN 710 EPT LH - 119 inches, 710 dark bronze anodized, EPT prep. Ives lists the 112XY as non-handed but handed with TWP or EPT, hence LH (see our door handing chart).

Finish numbers are explained in our finish codes chart.

Door hinges and pivots at The Builders Supply

Not sure which hinge type fits your door? Our customer support team is available Monday - Friday, 8 AM - 4 PM Central Time, at 1-888-800-7789 or [email protected].